Merry Christmas!

We've had a very Merry Christmas with family in Oklahoma this year!  The 16-hour drive south was smooth and relatively easy, and we have spent our days relaxing with the Paynes.

Jessica, Sean, and Phoebe came over on Christmas Eve for round one of Christmas celebrations.  The evening was complete with good food, cookies, cousin silliness, uncle wrestling, presents, and the joy of being together.  

The girls trying on their new Frozen princess dresses

 

Surely Ryan's new Yeti cup is big enough to hold the amount of coffee he likes to drink!

Christmas Eve pajama shenanigans!

 

  

Christmas morning began with stockings, a full breakfast, and then time spent reading and reflecting on God's gift of love in the coming of Christ. 

I found some Christmas poppers at the last minute, which meant everyone had a festive hat to wear for breakfast!  The tradition continues.  =) 

There was plenty of time on Christmas day to read new books, build new lego sets, and paint new tea sets!

The beautiful weather demanded a Christmas Day walk!

As if the girls had not been sufficiently lavished with new things already, we spotted this play house on the curb during our walk.  Deborah knocked on the door and spoke with the grandma in the home who said it was for the taking . . . so we took it home to add to Grammy Deb and G-Daddy's toy collection for their grandchildren!

Merry Christmas from the Paynes!!

Gretchen Turns Six!

How is it that our sweet Gretchen girl is already six?!  She is beautifully tender-hearted, thoughtful, sensitive, seeks peace, interested in music, prone to be dramatic, and a very smart little girl.  

We celebrated her sixth birthday with family and some friends in Oklahoma.  The day before her birthday, I got to whisk her away for a little shopping to find the perfect birthday tea party dress.  It was the most fun shopping I've done in a long time!

She put about twenty dresses into our cart, oohing and ahhhing as she pulled each one off the rack!

I hope I never forget how much fun she had trying on each dress!

 After a birthday breakfast, we spent the morning getting ready for her "fancy birthday tea party".  She requested that everyone dress up, but let Rooke off the hook because she's that kind of sweet sister! =)  She was particular about her menu (down to the specific fruits she wanted in the fruit salad), and helped with many of the details in getting ready for the party. 

 Aunt Jessica, Uncle Sean, and Phoebe came for the party with Phoebe's help in accessorizing.  Grammy Deb put on her pearls.  Bridgette wore her new Christmas dress.  Our friend, Ashley (who borrowed a fancy headband!), came with her girls, who had pretty dresses on for the occassion.  Everything felt festive and fancy and Gretchen was so happy!

Ryan and Uncle Sean looked handsome and graciously served the ladies for the party.  Uncle Sean even draped a towel over his arm as he poured the tea!

Happy Birthday, Gretchen!

A six-layered rainbow cake per her request.  As usual for my birthday cake creations, the cake looked better than it tasted!

I didn't have quite enough "fancy" accessories, so Grammy Deb pulled through with an exciting headband!

That evening, we went to see the lights at Rhema Bible College with all the Paynes and then ordered pizza for dinner.  SO MANY LIGHTS!  And the weather was just perfect for walking around at night.  

Happy Birthday, sweet Gretchen!  We love you!!

The First Snow!

We've enjoyed an unusually warmer December, but the snow finally came this week and we made the most of it!